NATO may cancel 2027 summit over Trump concerns
NATO is considering canceling its 2027 summit over Trump concerns (photo: Getty Images)
NATO is considering canceling its 2027 summit to avoid further straining relations with US President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports.
Why the Alliance is ready to skip the summit
The discussion about abandoning annual summits intensified this week when NATO leaders gathered in Ankara. The next summit was supposed to take place in Albania, but now it may be postponed.
There are two reasons:
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The desire to reduce tensions with US President Donald Trump, who regularly criticizes the Alliance;
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An attempt to avoid drawing attention to the fact that Albania is one of the countries with the lowest defense spending in NATO.
Senior NATO military official Giuseppe Cavo Dragone confirmed in an interview with Bloomberg TV that the date of the next summit has not yet been decided.
"The summit will be held in Albania, whether it will be held next year or the year after is something that is under discussion," Dragone said.
Trump criticized the Alliance again
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, US President Donald Trump said he came to Ankara only because of his warm relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He used his appearance at the summit to once again question the importance of NATO and humiliate allies.
It was the president's constant attacks that pushed the Alliance toward the idea of postponing the meeting in Albania so as not to give Trump another reason to criticize partners.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wants to preserve the annual summit format so that the Alliance remains at the center of the global agenda. He tried to impress Trump by talking about the significant increase in allies' defense spending.
However, it remains unclear whether this strategy is working. The final statement of the Ankara summit, which leaders are expected to approve on Wednesday, will not contain any mention of the next summit.
Ahead of the Ankara summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced an increase in allies' defense spending by 258 billion dollars, while Germany stated its intention to double its military budget and reach 5% of gross domestic product by 2029.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called it Germany's biggest effort to strengthen its defense capability in history.
During the meeting in Ankara, Canada announced the launch of a new defense financing mechanism, which Ukraine will also join along with eight other countries.
The new bank plans to raise up to 134 billion dollars in cheap loans for allies' defense projects.
